The origins of I.W.W. Local 61’s free speech fight with the Kansas City authorities.

‘Kansas City Free Speech Fight’ from Industrial Worker. Vol. 3 No. 24. September 7, 1911.

TRY TO CRUSH THE I.W.W.FREE SPEECH DENIED IN KANSAS CITY–I.W.W. MEMBERS HAVE TRIED TO AVOID A FIGHT–POLICE WILL FORCE THE WORKERS TO ACT.

After continuous interference on the part of the police and stool pigeons local No. 61 has prepared a dose of Direct Action for the law and order gang. The trouble began in the spring when two members were on their way to the Hodcarriers’ hall as a committee to meet with them in an attempt to organize the brickyard slaves, brick haulers, sand haulers, rock workers, lumber handlers and others engaged in making and handling raw building material. The two members were rejected from a street car for singing our revolutionary songs. The car stopped long enough for them to address the workers and also a crowd that collected.

A bull came along and told them to “move on.” They refused. The bull then said to shut up or he would arrest them. The meeting continued and one of the members was arrested. When the patrol wagon came the other member was told to come along also. This was on Saturday. One of the members put up $25 bond for their appearance at the South Side municipal court Monday morning. The judge said he never heard of a labor organization that sang songs and fined one member $5.00 and costs and discharged the other. The Fellow Worker refused to pay the fine and was taken to the holdover. About fifteen minutes later the captain came in and interviewed him and among other things told him he would have to pay the fine or they would take it out of the $25.00 bond money. So the Fellow Worker paid the fine and was released. That night at Missouri avenue and Main street one of our boys was arrested for telling the crowd that the police had simply robbed the Fellow Worker of the $5.00 fine.

Next morning at the trial he was fined $50.00 for among other cooked up things was insulting “Old Glory.” The minute he was arrested another man took the box and bawled out the flag and police and every other crumb institution but was not molested.

The fellow worker who was fined $50.00 is married. He was paroled on condition that he would not speak on the street for six months and if he broke his parole he was to serve out the fine at sixteen and two-third cents a day. Nothing was done till the local meeting Friday night. The local decided to get out an appeal bond the next man arrested. The next evening we held a meeting at Sixth and Main. After two speakers had spoken a scissor-bill cop came along and told us we would have to stop, that the speaker was not a working man, but was using the streets for private profit. What a fine excuse for the thug. The only ordinance here against street speaking is that they must not be used for private profit.

The agitation committee were all members of the A.F. of L. as well as I.W.W. They showed their cards to the tin cop, who then went to the phone and called up police headquarters. He came back and told us he would arrest the next man that tried to speak, the business men were kicking. We told him to go ahead and arrest. By that time quite a crowd had collected and the tin cop began to look like a pinhead. He finally burst out and said, “Maybe I can’t arrest all of you but I can call enough police to do the job in a few minutes.”

We told him we did not doubt that, then we told him to go ahead. Then he said, “You are blocking the sidewalk,” then we told him if that was all we would keep it clear. The bull then moved on We were not molested any more that night. In the meantime a meeting had been stopped at Twelfth and Baltimore, across from the Baltimore hotel (the leading hotel in the city) on complaint that we were disturbing the guests in their slumbers. We tried to get a permit to show the “Bulls’ but were told that permits were only given to religious organizations.

Despite the fact that there are dozens of street fakirs using the streets for private profit, about a month ago we were speaking at Missouri and Main streets and we were told we could not speak there. We moved up one block and was not molested. Five weeks ago a sergeant and five cops broke up our meeting. They said we had spoken long enough. We went to the hall and held a special meeting; a secret committee was elected in a way that no one knows who the committee is but the committee themselves. The committee has reported that the members of same committee are, men that are good rebs.

Also a committee was elected to interview the chief of police the next day and report to another special meeting the next evening. The committee went to police headquarters next day at 11 o’clock and were told that they did not know anything about the meeting being stopped. They told the committee to come back at 5 o’clock at “roll call.” When we went back we were told that we were using language that would inflame the workers’ minds. After a long talk with the lieutenant in charge were told we could speak at Sixth and Main as long as the business men did not kick. He was told that every business house within a radius of half a block was closed, it being Sunday. He admitted it, and finally told us the benefit of not using too radical language. The committee reported to the meeting that the authorities in the police department seemed disposed to be fair and recommended that if any of our meetings were interfered with that we adjourn and report to the authorities which recommendation was adopted. Last Sunday night one of our Italian speakers at our regular Sunday night Italian meeting was told to stop by a detective. He was told to stop by some of our English speaking members, which he did. The detective (an Italian) then got into an argument with an Italian member who finally used direct action on the “bull” who “beat it” up the street. When we went over to police headquarters nothing was known of the trouble. They did not seem to know who the “bull” was. We spoke every night last week and were not molested except Thursday when a few individuals got a dose of direct action and who finally went their way. Last night, Saturday August 12, a supposed stool pigeon took exception to remarks the speaker was making. He was told that if he wanted the box he could have it and we would have a debate with him. After another speaker was through he was invited to take the box and present his argument. He immediately started to push through the crowd to “beat it.” The crowd commenced to hiss and laugh, when a couple of “fly mugs” stopped him and told him they would see he would get fair play. They pushed their way to the stand, and seeing our willingness to give him the box, after a little argument told us we would have to go down to headquarters and get a permit to continue the meeting. The agitation committee went forthwith, saw the night chief who wanted to know who we were. He told us we were “SOCIALISTIC.” We told him not. He then said we were “TOO SOCIALISTIC” and were causing a lot of trouble at Sixth and Main and the police could stop us any time they see fit and then walked off into his private office. We asked the clerk if that terminated the interview and said “yes.” So we came on over to our hall where we held a special meeting of all the members we could gather. We decided that until we had notified the whole membership to attend a special meeting tomorrow night (Monday) no definite action could be taken further, to cut out the English meeting and concentrate on the Italian meeting tomorrow night (Sunday) and speak until our speakers were ordered to desist or arrested. Now fellow workers, we have done everything possible to avoid a free speech fight, but it seems inevitable. We’ll not make a call for fighters until we have several fellow workers arrested and tried. So fellow workers, don’t come unless you are coming this way, until we force the police authorities to take a stand one way or the other. Any further developments will be wired to “Solidarity” and “Industrial Worker.” Yours for free speech in K.C. By order of Local No. 61, Kansas City, Mo. GEO. W. REEDER. TOM HALCRO.

LATER. The local has decided to demand free speech from the box in case of molestation by the police and have ordered the speakers to continue to speak until arrested. We have held seven (7) meetings since foregoing and have had no trouble. Keep your eyes on our papers.

The Industrial Union Bulletin, and the Industrial Worker were newspapers published by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) from 1907 until 1913. First printed in Joliet, Illinois, IUB incorporated The Voice of Labor, the newspaper of the American Labor Union which had joined the IWW, and another IWW affiliate, International Metal Worker.The Trautmann-DeLeon faction issued its weekly from March 1907. Soon after, De Leon would be expelled and Trautmann would continue IUB until March 1909. It was edited by A. S. Edwards. 1909, production moved to Spokane, Washington and became The Industrial Worker, “the voice of revolutionary industrial unionism.”

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/industrialworker/iw/v3n24-w128-sep-07-1911-IW.pdf